INTERSTATE 81 MOTORISTS NARROWLY ESCAPE WRONG-WAY DRIVER

You have to wonder how a 22 year-old Albrightsville, Pennsylvania driver missed all the clues. All the road signs facing the wrong way. Being on the left side of the highway instead of the right. Those “Wrong Way” signs on the entrance ramp. All those cars coming at you honking their horns and flashing their lights. If the woman noticed, she didn’t seem to care. Pennsylvania State Police say she drove 18 miles at high speed, from Dickinson City to Laflin, on the wrong side of Interstate 81. Fortunately her reckless driving didn’t injure anyone.

Troopers got a number of calls about a car racing south in the northbound lane early New Year’s Day morning. Responding officers wisely remained in the proper lane and tried to get the wrong-way driver’s attention with their emergency lights and spotlights, but the motorist rolled blithely along, apparently not seeing the squad cars or not caring. Troopers then zipped ahead to a highway turn-around and surrounded her with a rolling roadblock that quickly brought the dangerous adventure to an end.

Authorities arrested the driver for drunk driving and reckless endangerment. A passenger in her car was not charged. In a statement, the State Police noted how fortunate it was that few people were on the interstate at 5:30 AM. “It’s a miracle that the operator and her passenger, or any motorist were not killed or injured severely from this incident,” according to the statement. “Due to the New Year’s holiday traffic was light on the interstate or the outcome could have been worse.” Reckless driving never seems to take a holiday.